A meeting of the country’s top political leadership has agreed to set up a special bicameral parliamentary committee for regular oversight of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. Meant to address the queries of parliamentary parties about the alleged change in the CPEC’s route, the meeting was cut short as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had to leave for Karachi, where earlier in the day at least 43 members of the Ismaili community were killed in a terrorist attack. In his opening remarks, the PM said that foreign forces, which opposed Pakistan’s close relationship with China and the CPEC and were trying to sabotage the project, must realise that it was not meant to be against any country. “The nation must stand united to foil the nefarious designs against the CPEC as this project is not for a party or an individual, rather for the whole country.”The government would do its best to remove any ambiguitCies about the economic corridor, the PM said, adding that he had always spoken about removing the sense of deprivation while focusing on building a consensus. The decision to constitute the committee was taken during an all parties’ conference (APC) convened on May 28 this year for the sole purpose of developing a consensus.If any party had a problem, they should have disagreed last year. It is time now to plan. Though minor problems will arise of course, the parliamentary committee should be able to sort these out. This is not the time for any major objections. To turn the CPEC into a contentious issue now will amount to sabotage. Making a prized project of the PML-N controversial will only be payback for the pressure on it in Karachi, if the MQM or any other party wants to go down that road. The truth is that the MQM cannot attend the committee meetings, due to its own wilful resignations. This must not be seen as a lack of consensus. The parliamentary committee has representation of 11 political parties and an independent National Assembly member from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). The 11 parties include the MQM. The CPEC may not be the best solution that Pakistan have, but it is a possible one. Pakistan does not have a lot of options when it comes to international investment. Pakistan doesn’t even have enough friends in the outside world. China cannot be alienated and neither can we afford to lose thousands of potential jobs and potential infrastructure development.
pk.shafaqna.com
